The subject matter of this application is directed to a modular airbag system for personal protection, such as for increasing survival chances for skiers and snowboarders during an avalanche.
Personal airbag systems may deploy airbags near or next to a user's body, to provide buoyancy for the user in an avalanche, such that the user's body may be kept above the snow in an avalanche or near the top of the snow.
Personal airbag designs may traditionally be in the form of a single piece backpack. For instance, an exemplary personal airbag design is described in U.S. Patent Publication 2012/0060267 to Blenkarn et al., which is assigned on its face to Arc′Teryx Equipment Inc.
However, such airbags are very cumbersome and inflexible. For example, the user cannot strap on his/her own backpack while wearing the airbag backpack, because (1) strapping on two backpacks may be mechanically difficult or impossible to do and (2) strapping on a backpack on the airbag backpack may interfere with the normal function of the airbag, preventing the airbag from deploying the airbags properly.
Accordingly, there is a need for a modular airbag that can be used normally with a user's other equipment without sacrificing the airbag functions.